


what we pretend to be

by sylwrites



Series: Holiday Vignettes [1]
Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: Canon Compliant, Childhood Friendship, F/M, Halloween, Pre-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-11
Updated: 2017-10-11
Packaged: 2019-01-16 05:35:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,686
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12336501
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sylwrites/pseuds/sylwrites
Summary: A series of holiday vignettes. First up: Halloween.It's his little sister's first Halloween, but his parents don't have money for a costume or the time to take her trick-or-treating. The answer to both of these problems comes in the form of his best friend's neighbour.





	what we pretend to be

**Author's Note:**

  * For [singsongsung](https://archiveofourown.org/users/singsongsung/gifts).



 

 _I've got a halloweenhead, head full of tricks and treats  
_ _It leads me through the nighttime streets_

  * Ryan Adams



  
  


He doesn’t hear her come in at first. His eyes are closed and he’s focusing on the distorted groove of the Rob Zombie song “Living Dead Girl”, trying hard to understand the appeal. His dad always seems either sad or distracted, but when the song had come on in the truck last week, his sad eyes had lit up in a way that Jughead hasn’t seen for a long time. Since then, he has been faithfully absorbed every night, listening for cues or moments or literally anything that will help to bring that moment back. But right now, the song masks the sound of her quiet footsteps, light and soft as a four-year-old’s should be, so it’s not until his sister climbs up on his bed beside him that Jughead registers her presence.

 

She tugs on his sleeve. “Jughead.”

 

His eyes open and he immediately lifts the headphones off. “Hey Jelly,” he says, sitting up on his elbows. “What’s up?”

 

“Mama says I don’t get to go trick-or-treating tomorrow.” Jellybean sticks her lip out in a pout, her blue eyes wide with sadness. “Can I go with you?”

 

Jughead’s eyes close briefly. She’s been talking about Halloween since she turned four in April and an older kid came to the playground in a Spiderman costume. Their mom had then explained to her about Halloween, about dressing up and going around and getting candy from people’s houses, and how this kid was wearing one of his old costumes from that. She was too young last year to really get it, and had been playing with her toys on the floor of the trailer when Jughead had left in his Dracula costume to meet up with Archie. He’s been going with Archie and his dad for six years, ever since he was four, but Jellybean doesn’t have a preschool friend yet, so he thought his mom would take her this year.

 

(His dad is a lost cause. Even at ten, he knows that.)

 

Jellybean couldn’t go last year either, but she was little enough that it didn’t matter. Last year, his mom had been studying for a big test. Jughead doesn’t really understand what it was for, exactly, but he knows that his mom didn’t finish school and that the test was supposed to help her get a better job. She’d stopped studying in November and started working double shifts, so this year Jughead thought that she’d be around to take Jellybean.

 

(Nobody has to be home to give candy out. Halloween is different in the house with the dark windows.)

 

He lets out a long breath, but he doesn’t ask the question on the tip of his tongue. It’s not Jellybean’s place to have the answer. Instead, he tugs his little sister into his lap and grabs one of the old toys from the shelf by his bed. “Let’s play with this for a bit, okay Jelly?”

 

Later, he goes to the kitchen where his mom is leaning over the sink, picking out two pills from an unmarked bottle. She says they’re for her headaches. He’s not allowed to have any.

 

“Jellybean says you aren’t taking her trick-or-treating,” he states.

 

His mother looks over. She’s younger than his dad and younger than both of Archie’s parents, but her eyes look old. It’s always confused him. “I have to work,” she says by way of explanation, then turns back and fills a glass of water.

 

“I could take her with me and Archie,” Jughead says.

 

She knocks back the pills with one swallow. “She doesn’t have a costume.”

 

That ends the conversation, because Jughead knows what the deal is with costumes. Every year, Archie gets a new one that his parents buy. Jughead has been Dracula every year since he was six, when his mom got a too-large black cape with a red underside at Goodwill. He wears his darkest jeans and whatever white shirt fits him that year, and while it’s not perfect, it works.

 

* * *

 

The next day, Jughead walks to school. He’s grown since last fall so his wrists stick out of his jacket, and he has to hunch over to stay warm enough in the early morning chill. He takes it off just before he rounds the street corner to the school, mostly because Reggie likes to tease him about his old clothes and how they fit poorly, and Jughead doesn’t need any more reasons to make himself a target.

 

“Jughead!”

 

He turns around and sees Betty Cooper waving at him, and he can’t help but wave back. Betty is one of the only people that is always nice to him. She’s nice to _everybody,_ so he shouldn’t be surprised, but he’s already got a reputation as a bad kid so she doesn’t have to be. She’s Archie’s next-door neighbour and is probably the closest thing to an actual ray of sunshine that a person could be. She’s always smiling and peppy, from the top of her perky blonde ponytail to the toes of her bright white sneakers. Even though that sort of thing usually repels him, there’s something about her that makes Jughead smile, too.

 

“Are you excited for trick-or-treating tonight?” Betty asks, catching up to him. She’s clutching the pink straps of her backpack tightly. Her hands are kept warm by little white mittens, but he knows that underneath, her knuckles are just as white. They always are.

 

Jughead hesitates before answering. He’d originally planned not to go this year, feeling a little too old for it already - he’s only ten but he’s taller than last year, and he sticks out too much for his liking - but had then decided that this would be the last hurrah. But now, knowing that Jellybean will be at home, he thinks he should stay, too. She’s too little to be home alone, and even though that seems to happen a lot anyway, it seems especially cruel on Halloween.

 

But Betty, whose mom makes homemade costumes that are better than the store and whose house is big and warm and full of candy, wouldn’t get it. “I can’t go,” he says instead, hoping the simplicity will be enough.

 

Betty’s face falls. “How come?” she asks. “It won't be the same without you.” Her voice is full of honest sadness and for a moment Jughead lets himself believe that she means it.

 

She has come trick-or-treating with him and Archie for the past three years. The first year, both her mother and her older sister had all come too, but the second year Polly went with friends and Betty managed to convince her mom that Fred could handle it. That was better; Betty’s mom has a way of making things not fun, and honestly, he’s a little scared of her. She's nice in a mean way, and likes to be very specific about telling Betty what to do.

 

(Jughead _hates_ to be told what to do. He doesn't know how Betty handles it.)

 

Last year, the three of them got to go by themselves. That was the best year. Jughead knows that it's just a ticking clock between the ages when you're old enough to go trick-or-treating alone and when you're just _too old,_ so between that and having to deal with Jellybean this year, he's glad they got to have a good time before. He and Archie had dragged Betty along for two extra blocks after she'd mentioned that her shoes, which were dyed a sparkly green to match her mermaid tail, were beginning to hurt her feet. In penance, they took turns carrying her pillowcase full of candy, and at the end of the night she'd rewarded them each with a handful of chocolate bars and a hug.

 

She hugged Archie a little tighter, Jughead thought, but that's alright with him. Girls are kind of gross anyway, though if he had to pick one, he’d definitely pick Betty.

 

“My mom has to work so I have to stay with Jellybean,” he explains.

 

Betty's face scrunches up in sympathy. It's a look Jughead hates. “That's not fun,” she says. A moment later, her eyes light up, and she says, “Hey! Bring her with you!”

 

Jughead hesitates. Jellybean would probably love it; Betty is just the perfect kind of blonde princess from her nighttime story books. “I _would,_ but my mom didn't have time to buy a costume for her either, so we can't.”

 

“She can wear one of my old ones!” Betty suggests, bending down to retie one of her pristine white shoelaces. One of the bows is slightly lopsided, as though the left side of the rabbits ears has grown out of control. Jughead decides he likes it that way; it’s nice to know that Betty makes mistakes, too. “My mom keeps all the ones from when me and Po- from when Polly _and I_ were little. Does that sound good?”

 

He opens his mouth to refuse - despite the fact that Jughead knows they sometimes need it, his dad says that Joneses _don't_ accept charity - but when his eyes fall on Betty's, they're so wide and green and hopeful, and the only thing he can say is, “Okay.”

 

* * *

 

Betty's attic is creepy.

 

He's not surprised, really. On TV, attics always are. That said, this is the first real, honest-to-goodness attic he’s been in. He’d tried not to come in with any preconceived judgments. The trailer doesn't have one, and despite all the time he's spent at Archie’s, he's never been in theirs either. As Jughead walks slowly across the creaky wood, eyes passing over ornately carved old dressers and dusty mirrors, he thinks that surely the Andrews’ attic is different than this.

 

A few feet away, Betty is kneeling in front of an old chest, pulling out costumes from Halloweens past and holding them up for Jellybean to see. Jughead watches them for a bit. He’s already wearing his Dracula cape; all he has to do is put more white powder on his face, then it’s as good as it’s gonna get. There are a few different costumes that will fit Jellybean, it seems, and when she picks out a princess costume of Betty’s and the sparkly jean jacket from an old costume of Polly’s, Jughead can’t help but smile.

 

Jellybean has always been full of personality, much moreso than himself. He hopes she never changes.

 

“This looks awesome, Jellybean,” Betty tells her as she helps to put the costume on over top of Jellybean’s leggings and white shirt.

 

“Thanks, Betty.” Jellybean pulls a little at her long sleeves. “Jug, do I gotta wear this too? I’m hot,” she complains.

 

Jughead shakes his head absentmindedly at her. “Yes. It’ll be cold outside, and you need to keep warm.” He glances at a white sheet that rests over what appears to be an old dress mannequin. “Betty, your attic is like a real life horror movie.”

 

Betty frowns slightly and glances at Jellybean quickly. “Jug-”

 

“She’s fine,” he interrupts. “We watched _Friday the 13th_ last weekend, and she didn’t even have nightmares, right Jellybean?”

 

“Yah,” Jellybean confirms, reaching up and grabbing Jughead’s hand. “Do we get candy now?”

 

“In a minute, Jellybean,” he says. “We have to wait for Archie to get ready, and Betty needs to put her costume on.”

 

They head down the rickety attic steps so that Betty’s mom can help her into her costume. This year, Betty is going as a bumblebee. Her mother has fashioned a bee’s rounded body out of some sort of bent cardboard contraption, then covered the outside in alternating yellow and black felt. Betty’s skinny arms and legs stick out from underneath it, also clad in black, and on her head she has little tentacles attached to a headband. Her hair is in a ponytail, like always.

 

“You look silly, Betty!” Jellybean proclaims, still clutching Jughead’s hand.

 

Betty smiles down at her. “I’m supposed to, Jelly, it’s Halloween! You look silly too!”

 

That earns her a giggle. Betty glances at Jughead, and he can’t stop himself from smiling back. “I look scary though, right Betts?” he says.

 

“Of course,” she says. “Okay, you guys ready to go get Archie?”

 

“Yah!” Jellybean cheers, clapping. She follows Betty and Jughead downstairs and pushes her feet into her sneakers. She hasn’t quite mastered tying her shoes yet, though she’s getting pretty close, so Jughead kneels down and double-knots his sister’s sneakers for her.

 

When he stands up, Betty’s mom is leaning against the wall of the foyer, observing him with interest. “Are you sure your parents are okay with her going without them?” she asks, not for the first time.

 

“Yes, Mrs. Cooper,” Jughead responds. “Jellybean and I got permission. They trust me and Archie and Betty.”

 

(This is a lie. Jughead’s parents don’t even know they’re gone, but they probably won’t ever realize, either.)

 

“Betty and Archie and _I,”_ Betty’s mom corrects. “And fine. Betty, not too late, please.”

 

“Yes mom,” Betty responds immediately, bouncing on her feet. “Let’s go!”

 

They shuffle out the door and over to next door to get Archie, who comes out dressed in all white like a sailor. Fred puts candy in all of their pillowcases then waves at them as they walk down the street, turning up each walkway with bright smiles on their faces.

 

They make it two hours before Jellybean says she’s too tired to continue. Jughead thinks Betty is too, but after last year she seems to not want to complain, so she stays quiet. Archie doesn’t want to quit yet. Neither does Jughead, especially if this is his last year going, so he squats down and lets Jellybean jump on his back and Archie holds her bag of candy. Between the two of them - and Betty, who helps him open his own pillowcase when he gets to doorways, since now he needs at least one hand to hold Jellybean’s legs - they manage to make it another three blocks.

 

They go to Archie’s to sort out the candy like always. Betty trades her mini KitKats for Fuzzy Peaches, Archie takes all the nut-filled candies people are willing to part with, and Jughead amasses a collection of all the other rejects. Jellybean is almost asleep on Archie’s couch, but Jughead wakes her up so that they can go home.

 

“We gotta give the costume back to Betty,” he tells her gently.

 

“She can keep it,” Betty tells him, getting up off the carpet and brushing her knees off. “It doesn’t fit me anymore anyway.”

 

Jughead is overcome with the sudden urge to hug her, but he manages to push it down before he does something crazy like indulge it. “Okay,” he agrees, then grabs Jellybean’s hand. “Come on, kiddo, just one more walk, okay?”

 

“I’ll drive you guys home, Jug,” Fred interrupts, having entered the living room moments earlier.

 

“Thanks, Mr. Andrews,” he says quietly. “Jellybean?”

 

“Thank-you Mr. Fred!” Jellybean says dutifully, turning to smile at Archie’s dad. “And thanks Betty!” she adds, running over and giving Betty a hug.

 

Betty smiles into Jellybean’s dark hair. “You’re welcome, Jellybean,” she says warmly, patting her shoulder. “I better get home before my mom comes over to get me. See you at school, Jug. Bye, Archie!”

 

“Bye,” Archie replies. Jughead echoes it immediately after. Then with another quick smile, Betty waves, puts her shoes on, and heads out the front door.

  
  
  


Ten minutes later, when he and Jellybean climb out of Fred's truck at Sunnyside, his dad is still gone. His mom is sitting on the couch at the front of the trailer with her hand over her eyes, looking tired. The hand lifts as soon as they walk in the door. There’s a brief flash of recognition as her eyes fall on his and Jellybean’s matching pillowcases, then she stands up, says, “Time to brush your teeth, Jellybean,” and takes his little sister down the hall.

 

Jughead hides their candy in his closet, then goes to his room and turns his music on again.

 

**Author's Note:**

> Short little piece for you. Sorry I have been kinda MIA. Hope this tides people over a little. Please leave me a comment, I would appreciate it more than you know.


End file.
